


The Adventures of Tiberius Blackthorn

by we_are_dust_and_shadows (eisenkami)



Category: The Dark Artifices Series - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Gen, Murder Mystery, Mystery, The Dark Artifices - Freeform, sort of??, the mortal instruments - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-03
Updated: 2017-10-31
Packaged: 2018-11-08 09:01:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,573
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11078331
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eisenkami/pseuds/we_are_dust_and_shadows
Summary: Join Ty, Livvy, and Kit as they investigate Sherlock Holmes-esque mysteries, both in Los Angeles and London.For anyone who's upset over the ending of Lord of Shadows (I know I am!). I plan to release one story every month until Queen of Air and Darkness comes out.





	1. The Adventre of the Beach Cave

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A mundane girl has been killed by demons, but where did the demons come from? Can the Blackthorn twins and Kit figure out who's guilty before others are blamed?

Kit was sitting in the second floor hallway of the Los Angeles Institute with Ty and Livvy when he overheard the news.  
"A mundane girl was found on the beach this morning, torn to shreds," he could hear Diana tell Julian from below.  
"Demonic work?" Kit heard Julian ask.  
"Kuri demons," Diana responded, "but no one knows where they came from."  
Ty's eyes seemed to light up. A mystery!  
"I'll need you and Emma to investigate," Diana continued.  
Livvy sprang up and vaulted over the railing down to where Diana and Julian were.  
"We can do it!" she said while Ty followed her. Kit just used the stairs. "Ty, Kit, and me. We can investigate!"  
Diana looked from the three of them to Julian, then nodded.  
"Alright," she said. "In that case, Julian, I would like you to accompany me to go speak with Arthur."  
Julian stood straight and nodded.  
"Thanks, Diana!" Livvy said, grinning at her tutor. Ty smiled too—not out of gratitude, but out of excitement—and Kit appreciated that they were actually twins, even if their hair and eyes were different. Kit found himself smiling, too.  
The three of them exited the institute, Kit lagging a bit behind.  
"Come, Watson," Ty said, looking over his shoulder at Kit.  
"I told you not to call me Watson!" Kit protested, but he hurried up.  
"If he's Watson," Livvy wondered, "who am I?"  
Ty looked at her, slightly confused. "You're Livvy."

When they reached the beach where the girl had been killed, they were surrounded by the noise and lights of police sirens. Ty had put his headphones on, and he was holding onto Livvy's hand. Kit saw a few people surrounding an area closed off with police tape. As they moved closer, Kit could see that the body had been moved, but there was blood soaking the sand inside the taped area.  
"The mundanes won't be able to figure out how she died," Livvy said. She sounded a little sad. "They'll blame other people."  
Kit silently agreed with her. It was unlikely a mundane investigation team would realize the girl had been killed by demons.  
"That's why we're here," Ty said.  
Livvy nodded. She pulled out a seraph blade (they were Glamoured; no mundane would see them looking around, and no mundane would notice their weapons either).  
"Ty, there's a Shadowhunter woman over there. You and Kit go talk to her and see if she knows anything, and I'll go look around to figure out where the demon came from."  
Ty nodded and Livvy headed off.  
Kit looked at the woman Livvy had motioned to. She was old, with white-grey hair and too-skinny ankles, but she most definitely had Marks on her. Kit could see a voyance rune on the back of her right hand.  
Ty and kit approached her. As they got closer, Kit could hear the woman muttering something under her breath.  
Ty took his headphones off and spoke. "My name is Tiberius Blackthorn," he said, "and this is Kit Herondale. We're investigating what's going on here. Do you know what happened?"  
The woman looked at Ty. Kit saw that she had cold, grey eyes.  
"Warlocks," she said angrily. "They summon demons without care for the damage they cause." The woman looked at Kit. "You're a Herondale?"  
"Yeah," Kit answered. "I mean, I only just found out about it but—" He didn't know why he was explaining himself to her. He shut his mouth.  
"The lost Herondale," the woman said. "I know about you. You of all people should know that Downworlders are nothing but scum and a danger to everyone."  
Kit disagreed, but he felt that telling this woman would do absolutely nothing.  
"I am Elanor Greybrook," the woman told them. "My family is very well-known in Idris."  
Kit had no idea whether that was true or not, but Ty didn't seem bothered by what she had said.  
"Do you live around here?" Kit asked.  
Elanor shook her head. "I live in Alicante. I am visiting my sister. She runs an apothecary near here."  
At that moment, Livvy reappeared.  
"Kit! Ty! I need to show you something!"  
The two boys left Elanor and headed to join Livvy.  
"what is it?" Ty asked.  
"Come on, I'll show you," Livvy replied. She started walking, Ty behind her, and Kit following behind him.  
Kit could see prints in the sand. They didn't look human—or like any beach dwelling animal. The prints looked like pincer-pricks, but they were so far apart that Kit worried about the size of the creature that made them.  
Livvy led them to a small cave hidden by the side of a hill.  
"The tracks lead here," she said, pointing to the prints that Kit had noticed.  
Ty crouched and looked into the cave.  
"The opening's small," he observed, "but inside it's big enough to stand up in."  
"Should we go in?" Kit asked. Livvy looked from him to Ty.  
"How dark is it in there?" she asked.  
"A little dim," Ty replied. "We can use witchlight."  
Livvy nodded and pulled out a smooth stone that started to glow in her grip. Ty did he same.  
"I'll just stick with you," Kit said. He didn't have a witchlight.  
One by one, the three of them ducked into the cave.  
Ty was right, Kit thought as he straightened up. There was enough room for an adult to stand in there.  
Livvy and Ty held their witchlights up and looked around. There seemed to be a passage leading away from the mouth of the cave.  
"I'm not sure about this," Livvy voiced. "The tracks led here, so there might still be demons."  
Ty looked at her for a second. He seemed torn between wanting to investigate and wanting to do the best for Livvy.  
"We could keep going," Kit suggested, "and keep our weapons drawn."  
Livvy thought for a moment and then nodded. "I want to see what's down here, anyway."  
Ty seemed pleased. "Let's keep going."  
They all pulled out a weapon and continued on.  
As it turned out, the passage did not lead very far. It widened out into a circular, domed room with a large shape etched into the floor.  
"A summoning circle," Ty breathed.  
It was definitely a summoning circle, Kit saw as he approached it. "Do you think the Kuri-or-whatever demon was summoned here?"  
"Almost definitely," Livvy replied, "but who would have summoned a demon here?"  
"Elanor said something about warlocks doing it," Kit answered.  
"Elanor?"  
"The woman from the beach," Ty told her. "Elanor Greybrook."  
"It could be a warlock," Livvy said. "We should ask around."  
Livvy had only started to walk back towards the passage when something descended from the ceiling.  
"Livvy!” Kit shouted. The girl spun on the spot and her witchlight illuminated the creature. It hissed and scuttled back against the wall, and Kit could see that it had eight legs, each ending in pincers, and fangs where its eyes should have been.  
"Haniel," Ty said softly, and a seraph blade blazed to life in his hand. A light from Livvy's direction let Kit know she had done the same. Kit drew his iron sword.  
The Kuri demon lunged toward Ty and he slashed at it, severing one of its legs. Ichor sprayed the ground at Kit's feet. The demon was backing away from the light from Ty's blade, and Livvy took the opportunity to leap behind it. She swung her seraph blade—and missed as the Kuri demon scuttled to the side to avoid the attack.  
Kit took a swipe at the demon's legs, severing another. Ichor splattered his arm, burning his skin. Kit hissed in pain and was almost too distracted to duck when the demon lunged at him. The surprise knocked Kit off-balance and he fell flat on his back.  
"Kit!" Ty said, and he swung his blade at the demon. The demon dodged, turned back toward Ty, and froze, Livvy's blade going right through its body. The demon made a shrieking sound, twitched, and disappeared in a puff of smoke. Kit got to his feet and brushed himself off.  
"I'm going to hate spiders for weeks now," he said.  
Ty smiled, then the expression was exchanged for one of confusion. "What's that?"  
Kit could feel it too: the ground felt as if it was moving beneath him. Then several long, pincer-ended legs emerged from the sand at their feet.  
"Run!" Livvy shouted. Kit didn't have to be told twice. He, Livvy, and Ty sprinted back into the passageway from which they had come. As they ran, Kit could hear the sounds of hundreds of spider-like legs from behind them.  
Livvy got through the mouth of the cave first, Ty following right after her. The two grabbed onto Kit's arms and helped pull him out. He fell into the warm, sunlit sand. Ty moved back towards the cave. He peered inside. Kit got up to see what he was looking at.  
Keeping away from the sunlight, Kit could see tens of tens of Kuri demons like a single, wriggling mass inside of the cave.

"Who could have known there would be so many!" Livvy exclaimed. They were sitting at a cafe to regain their breath. Ty had his headphones on and was twisting a napkin between his fingers.  
"Whoever summoned them had some serious business going on," Kit stated. Livvy nodded.  
"Nobody around here seems to know of any warlocks that would be interested in summoning Kuri," Livvy sighed. They had asked around the area about the demons and warlocks.  
"What does it take to summon them, anyway?" Kit asked.  
"I don't know," Livvy said. "That magic is forbidden. I know demon summoning typically requires herbs or candles and definitely a blood sacrifice."  
"There were herbs," Ty said. Kit hadn't noticed that he had removed his headphones.  
"Where?" Livvy asked.  
"On the floor around the summoning circle," Ty answered her.  
"Isn't there a warlock who runs a flower shop here?" Livvy said. Ty nodded. "Catherine Flux."  
"Should we go ask her questions?" Kit wondered. Ty nodded again. That's when they heard a crash from the other side of the cafe.  
"Your kind isn't needed here," an angry voice growled. Kit stood on his chair to see what was happening.  
"That doesn't mean you're permitted to throw furniture at me, now does it?"  
The person who had spoken was a man with slicked black hair. He had ash-colored feathers covering his arms and was looking at the person who had shouted at him.  
"Scum," the latter hissed. "You think I don't know what happened to that mundane girl on the beach? I don't need any demon spawn in this cafe."  
"'Demon spawn' seems a little uncalled for," the warlock man said, seemingly unfazed. "I would have imagined you'd realize not all warlocks are guilty, being a Downworlder yourself."  
"Just 'cause I'm a werewolf doesn't mean I gotta sympathize with you. I'm not the one using magic to open the gates of Hell."  
"Nor am I," the warlock began, but at a look at the werewolf's face, he added, "but I can see I'm not welcome here. I'll take my leave."  
Kit motioned for Ty and Livvy to follow him. The three headed towards the warlock man. He looked at them.  
"Hello, little Nephilim," he said. "I am afraid that if you would like to speak to me, it will have to be outside."

"And you're sure you don't know who's been summoning them?" Livvy asked. The warlock, whom they had learned was named William Mare, shook his head.  
"I have the pleasure of being acquainted with most warlocks in the area. I can't think of one that would summon a hoard of Kuri. Nasty things!" Mare gave a small shiver—whether voluntary or not, Kit couldn't tell.  
"Tensions are high at this moment," Mare continued. "I wish you luck in finding who is behind all this."  
"Thank you," Livvy said, and turned to the other three as the warlock began to walk away.  
"So," Kit said, "we still don't know who it was."  
"No," Livvy sighed. "I suppose we don't need to go visit Catherine Flux, then."  
"I think we should," Ty replied. "We can ask if anyone bought suspicious herbs."  
"It's worth a shot," Kit agreed. He had never had to deal with this before. At the Shadow Market, everyone had secrets, and unless you were buying or selling information, you didn't stick your nose where it didn't belong. Kit was surprised to find that he really enjoyed investigating with the Blackthorn twins.

Catherine Flux was a sweetheart. Those were Livvy's words, not Kit's, but he didn't disagree with them. Kit had met his fair share of rude and awful warlocks, and Catherine was not one of them. She had pleasantly told them that, although she knew which herbs and plants were needed to summon Kuri demons, she had not seen anyone buy them. She had told them what those herbs and plants were, though.  
"Hawthorn, echinacea, basil, and nightshade," Livvy repeated. She, Ty, and Kit were sitting on a bench at a park. Ty was watching some geese flap around in a pond.  
"No one can think of a single warlock that would have summoned those demons," Kit groaned.  
"What if," Ty said, still watching the geese, "the person who summoned them wasn't a warlock."  
"What do you mean?" Livvy asked.  
Ty fiddled with the drawstrings of his hoodie. "What if they were a Shadowhunter?"  
Livvy stared. "But that would be treason. They would be stripped of their marks!"  
Kit thought about this.  
"What if the person didn't think they'd be caught?" He asked. "What if they thought they were above suspicion?"  
Ty looked at kit, his eyes glittering. "Exactly."  
Livvy looked between them, confused. "What's going on?"  
"We need to visit an apothecary," Ty said.

The apothecary in question was located on a lighted street corner. When the three kids entered, a woman with grey hair moved to the counter.  
"Hello," she said. "How may I help you?"  
"My name's Livvy Blackthorn," Livvy said. "This is my brother Ty, and this is Kit Herondale. We've been investigating what happened on the beach this morning. We were hoping you could answer some questions?" She phrased it like that itself was a question.  
The woman seemed to pale, but it may have just been the lighting. "My name is Elaine Greybrook. I'll help you however I can. That poor girl..."  
"Can I look around your store?" Kit asked.  
"Of course, dearie. That's what it's here for."  
Kit moved towards a wall covered in bunches of herbs. He could still hear what the others were saying.  
"Are you Elanor Greybrook's sister?" Ty asked.  
"Yes, I am," Elaine responded. "What does that have to do with this?"  
"Oh, we just met her today," Livvy said. "The name sounded familiar."  
Kit scanned the shelves. Hawthorn. Echinacea. Basil. Those three were present, but he couldn't find anything labeled nightshade. He went back over to tell Ty, who nodded and pointed at a potted plant on the counter. Elaine noticed the motion.  
"Ah, I see you've found my belladonna," she said. "Aren't they flowers just lovely? I gave some to my sister, but I did warn her not to eat any." She laughed good-naturedly.  
"Belladonna is also called deadly nightshade," Ty stated.  
Livvy's and Kit's eyes widened.  
"Miss Greybrook," Livvy said, "do you know if anyone has bought hawthorn, echinacea, and basil recently?"  
"Oh! Elanor picked some of those out to take with her," Elaine said.  
"Do you know where she might—" Kit's words were cut off by the ringing of the bell as the door opened. It was Elanor.  
"The cut on my hand is healing up very nicely, Elaine. Thanks for your help."  
She stopped dead when she saw Kit and Ty.  
"Oh, Elly, these children were just looking for you!" Elaine said cheerily. She paused. "Elly, what's wrong?"  
"How did you cut your hand, Miss Greybrook?" Livvy asked. Elanor made a move to hide her hand, but it was no use.  
"You don't know anything," she hissed.  
"I know a lot of things," Ty replied.  
"We know you had the herbs to summon Kuri demons," Kit said.  
"Me?" Elanor said. "Outrageous! I don't care what you found in that cave! You should be worried about catching the warlock who killed that girl!"  
"I don't think we mentioned a cave," Livvy said. Elanor went white, as did Elaine.  
"Elly," she said, "what did you do?"  
Ty was tapping away at his phone's keypad.  
"Do you hate warlocks that much?" Kit asked.  
"Downworlders are dirt," Elanor spat. "Warlocks are no different from demons. I was doing the world a favor by making them seem guilty!"  
A Portal opened up in the shop and several important-looking people stepped out.  
"Elanor Greybrook," one of them said, "you have been summoned to Idris. Come with us."

"I still feel bad for Elaine," Livvy said She, Kit, and Ty were sitting on the stairs of the Institute.  
"What'll happen to her?" Kit asked.  
"Her Marks will be removed," Livvy explained. "She'll have to live as a mundane just because her sister broke the Law."  
"Sed lex, dura lex," Ty sighed. _The Law is hard, but it is the Law._  
"Lex malla, lex nulla," Julian said as he stepped through the Institute doors. He looked tired. "A bad law is no law. They've finished cleaning out that cave you found. Those demons shouldn't be a problem any more." He looked to Ty. "You guys did a great job."  
Ty grinned, his eyes shining, and Kit, as always, was struck by how beautiful he was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaah! How did you like it? I worked super hard on it haaah but I think it's not perfect. It's 12:06 AM and I can barely keep my eyes open. Please comment & give kudos!  
> Look for more stories next month!


	2. The Adventure of the Missing Children

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kit, Ty, and Livvy investigate the case of children who were reported missing. Children they had seen the day before!

"Here's your drink." A pale waitress set down a coffee in front of Kit. She did the same with Ty and Livvy, who had each gotten teas. Kit glanced out of the window at the lit-up city. It was just now dark: the time the cafe opened.  
Ty and Livvy thanked the waitress without looking her in the eyes—Shadowhunter precaution, Kit knew. Kit had been surrounded with all types of people at the Shadow Market, putting him relatively at ease in situations like being at a cafe run by vampires, but the twins didn't look so comfortable.  
"What time should we head back?" Livvy wondered.  
"We've got time," Kit said. "Let's finish our drinks first. They're really good here."  
Ty stopped fiddling with the controls on a digital camera to take a sip of his tea. "Are you staying?"  
"What?" Kit asked.  
"At the Institute," Ty explained. "Are you going to try and run away again?" He pocketed the camera.  
Livvy looked at Kit, her expression accusatory. Kit looked between her and Ty.  
"I don't know," Kit said. "I'm still not sure Shadowhunting's my thing."  
Ty didn't seem to have a reaction. He kept his hands around his tea cup. The silence while they all drank was a little awkward.  
Kit heard a _thunk_ and looked up. One of the waiters was closing a door slowly, as if not to disturb anything. Kit figured something had fallen off the wall in there.  
Ty checked his phone. "It's nine. We should get back."  
Livvy nodded in agreement and the three downed the rest of their drinks, paid, and headed out. Once outside, Ty took a hold of one of Livvy's hands and one of Kit's hands. He didn't say anything, but Kit smiled a little.  
They walked down the street. Kit glanced ahead. There was a small park, and three kids were playing on the swings. Kit thought it was a bit late for them to be out by themselves, but it wasn't his business. As they passed, Kit could hear the kids talking.

The Institute was quiet that night; Dru and Tavvy were already asleep by the time Kit and the twins returned, and Emma and Julian were off doing research that Kit didn't particularly care about. Livvy immediately said she was going to bed and bade the other two goodnight before heading to her room. Ty looked as if he were about to follow, but he turned to look at Kit.  
"Are you going to bed, too?" he asked.  
"I might stay up for a bit longer," Kit replied.  
"I'll stay with you," Ty said. Kit was impressed—he'd always thought Ty was pretty much inseparable from his twin.  
"Okay," Kit said. "I was gonna head to the library."  
Ty nodded and the two of them headed through the doors to the library.

Kit gazed at the hundreds of books surrounding them. The splendor had worn off by now. At first, Kit had been in awe of the library—there were so many books and so much information he hadn't had access to before, not to mention that many of those books would go for quite a lot if he sold them at the Shadow Market.  
Kit headed for a book on faeries, but he was stopped by Ty. He was holding a book out towards Kit.  
"Have you read this?" He asked. Kit looked at the book. On the cover was an image of an Angel—Raziel, Kit knew—rising out of a lake and holding in one hand a sword and in the other a cup. It was titled "The Shadowhunter's Codex."  
"No," Kit answered, shaking his head.  
"You should," Ty prompted. "It'll be useful."  
Kit took the book. He opened it to the first page. He scoffed.  
"Whoever wrote this was a bit full of himself."  
Ty shrugged as if to say, 'yeah, it happens.'  
Kit sat in an armchair in a corner. Ty joined him in the accompanying chair. He was holding a copy of Sherlock Holmes. Kit smiled. The book looked very well-read. He turned back to his own volume.  
"I suggest you start at page one-hundred-seventy-five," Ty said, not moving his gaze from his book.  
Kit turned to that page.  
"The laws?" He asked, raising an eyebrow at Ty.  
Ty looked up at him, smiling a little. Kit rolled his eyes but couldn't help smiling too.

Kit woke up in the library chair the next morning, and the first thing he noticed was that someone had put a blanket over hi. He looked around and saw Ty reading a book.  
"I didn't want to wake you," he said, looking at a spot just above Kit's head.  
"You didn't," Kit told him. "What time is it?"  
"Seven-thirty," Ty answered. "Livvy wants to go around town, but she's waiting for you."  
Kit stood and stretched. "We can go out for breakfast somewhere. Just let me get dressed."

Ten minutes later, Kit, Ty, and Livvy left the institute. Livvy and Ty were talking about frogs.  
"You could get one as a pet, but you'd have to buy a terrarium."  
They passed a telephone pole with a bunch of papers stapled to it—promos for bands, missing pets, babysitting opportunities—and one caught Kit's eye. He stopped walking.  
"Hey," he called to the twins, "come look at this!"  
"Missing kids?" Livvy asked as she examined the flyer.  
"Remember those kids we passed on the way back to the Institute last night?" Kit asked.  
"Only vaguely," Livvy answered.  
"That's them," Kit said, pointing to the flyer.  
"It says they've been missing for three weeks," Ty commented, looking at the poster.  
"They didn't seem lost yesterday," Kit pointed out.  
"Maybe they'll be at the playground again today," Livvy said.  
"Should we stake it out?" Kit asked.

Kit held up a bag of food as he walked towards the park bench the twins were sitting on.  
"What took so long?" Livvy called, smiling.  
"The line was crazy long," Kit answered. He handed Ty and Livvy their food as he reached them, then he sat on the end of the bench next to Ty.  
"Did they show up?" Kit asked.  
Ty shook his head.  
"They might not show up until later," Livvy said. Kit nodded. It was only nine in the morning and Kit hoped the kids showed up soon. He didn't particularly want to sit on that bench all day.  
Noon came, and Kit decided it was Livvy's turn to go on a food run. It was only five minutes after she left when Kit saw something. He sat up straight and squinted through the playground bars, and his sudden movement caused Ty to take out his earbuds.  
"What is it?"  
"There's someone there under the playground," Kit answered. He stood up and took a step towards the figure, and they withdrew back into the shadows as if hiding from the sun. When Kit took another step closer, the figure dashed out from underneath the equipment and ran away down the street. Kit saw that it was a child.

"I'm back!" Livvy called as she approached the two boys. She passed them their food (burgers from a really good place a little walk away) and sat down with them. "Did anything happen while I was gone?"  
"There was someone hiding under the playground," Ty told her. "A kid."  
"Was it one of the missing ones?"  
Kit shrugged. "I couldn't see their face. They stayed in the shadows and then bolted."  
"Hmm," Livvy hummed thoughtfully. There was a soft beeping noise, and she pulled out her phone to check the text.  
"Diana wants us back for a lesson," she sighed. "We'll have to stake out tomorrow night instead."  
The three of them stood, holding their barely-touched food.  
"We can eat on the way back," Kit suggested. The twins showed their agreement by nodding fervently.  
"Give me a bit," Ty said. He went over to a pole on the equipment and fiddled with something Kit couldn't see. He came back and Kit gave him a questioning look. Ty just looked back at him blankly.  
"What did you do?" Kit asked him.  
"I set up a camera," Ty explained.  
"The one you had with you yesterday?" Livvy asked. Ty nodded.  
"We'll be able to see if anyone shows up."

It turned out the lesson Diana had wanted them for had been relatively short, so Kit, Ty, and Livvy were sitting in Kit's room going back over the details of the day.  
"And then they ran away," Kit reiterated.  
"Could they be a vampire?" Livvy asked. "It would explain hiding in the shade."  
"But they ran out in the sunlight," Ty countered. "No vampire would have been able to do that."  
All three of them sighed.  
"That kid might not even have had anything to do with the missing ones. They might just have been shy or something," Kit said.  
"Ty," Livvy said," can't you pull up live video from that camera on a computer?"  
"Yes," Ty answered. "I can use my phone."  
After some prompting and a good deal of button pushing, the three sat in a huddle to watch Ty's phone screen.  
It was still bright outside, and the playground was vacated. Kit made a disappointed noise.  
"They might show up later," Livvy said hopefully.

The three kept checking the phone periodically to see if anything had changed.  
At around dusk, Livvy let out a gasp.  
"There are three kids on the playground!"  
The boys sat up straight and looked attentively at the screen.  
"That's them!—I think," Kit said.  
"There's someone there," Ty said, pointing in the corner of the screen. Kit looked there. There was indeed a pale figure standing watch over the kids.  
"Hey, is that the waitress from the cafe?" Kit asked.  
Livvy looked alarmed. "Is it?"  
Of course, Kit thought. He had been the only one to look at her face.  
Kit glanced back to where the figure had been before, but it was gone. A second later, the footage cut out and the screen went black. "DISCONNECTED" appeared on the screen in large red letters.  
Livvy and Ty were up quicker than Kit was. They checked their weapons belts and raced out. By the time they had reached the playground, it had gotten dark enough to warrant the use of witchlight. Each of the three was holding a lit stone in their hand.  
"Are they gone?" Livvy asked while looking around.  
Kit checked through the equipment. "Yep."  
"We should go back to the cafe," Ty said.  
Kit, who had been expecting him to end that with 'the Institute' felt a rush of excitement at Ty's words. "Yeah," he agreed, "let's go check it out!"  
The three walked down the street towards the vampire cafe. Kit figured he should feel anxious, but the adrenaline in his system had become anticipation rather than fear.

They rounded the corner and saw the dimly-lit cafe with an "open" sign in the door. Kit walked up to it and pushed it open. A movement caught the corner of his eye, but when he looked to see what it was, all he saw was a closed door.  
"How can I help you?" asked a vampire from behind the counter. He had a cautious look on his face as if he was trying not to glare at them.  
"We stopped in to use your restroom," Kit made up. "Everywhere else is closed."  
The vampire scowled and pointed toward the door Kit had noticed. "Through there and two doors down on the left. Ladies on the right," he added, glancing at Livvy.  
Kit thanked him and motioned for the other two to follow him.  
The door led to a hallway, but instead of entering the bathroom, the trio opened the first door on the left. The sight that greeted them made Kit want to be sick.

Several children were sitting in the dark, their small faces covered in blood.

Kit took a step towards them, but they didn't move.  
"I thought I told you the second door," a cold voice said from behind Kit. Livvy screamed.  
Faster than kit could turn around, the vampire was on him. Kit shouted in pain as the vampire sunk its fangs into Kit's neck and both fell to the floor.  
I can't do anything, Kit thought. I'm going to die. It didn't hurt as much as he had thought it would...  
Kit felt a weight leave him and looked to see what had happened.  
Ty had the vampire pinned to a wall and was holding his witchlight out to keep it back.  
Kit felt lightheaded. The last thing he saw before the world went black was Livvy driving a stake through the vampire's heart.

Kit blinked his eyes open. There was a soft, yellow light shining on him, and he was lying down on something comfy.  
"You're up!" came a voice from a few feet away on Kit's right. Livvy was looking at him with a smile.  
"Where am I?" Kit asked groggily.  
"The Institute sick ward," Livvy answered him. "Don't sit up."  
Kit lied back down, as he had just pushed himself up and felt his head spin.  
"Where's Ty?"  
"He's over there," Livvy said, motioning to a chair near an adjacent bed to Kit's. Kit looked and saw that Ty was asleep with his headphones on and his hand holding his head up. "He didn't leave you all night."  
Kit felt touched, then he gasped as he remembered the events of the previous night.  
"What happened?" he asked anxiously. "With the cafe?"  
Livvy nodded as if she had expected that. "The other vampires were taken into custody by the Clave," she explained. "I doubt they'll be given light sentences."  
"And the kids?"  
"Subjugates," Livvy answered.  
"That's illegal! It was outlawed at the seventh Accords!" Kit said. At an amused look from Livvy, he explained, "Ty had me read the Codex. I think he wanted to reform me."  
"It seems to be working," Livvy commented.  
"What'll happen to them—the kids?" Kit asked.  
"They're being fed holy water. They should be back with their families soon," Livvy told him. Kit was relieved.  
"What about you guys?"  
"What about us?"  
"Are you okay?" Kit rephrased.  
Livvy nodded. "We both got a few scratches and bruises, but we'll be fine. You will, too."  
"Good," Kit breathed.  
"You should rest some more. We can get you some food."  
Kit looked from Livvy to Ty, then closed his eyes. He smiled, thinking about them. He was so lucky to have them as friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I strained my wrist and this entire experience was painful.  
> Also do you know how hard it is to use chopsticks with a wrist brace on?? Really hard.


	3. The Adventure of the Lost Memories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our mystery-solving trio is faced with a new task: help a boy regain his memories, but everything isn't as it seems. After the reported death of a faerie, will Ty, Livvy, and Kit know who to trust?

Kit reached for the cinnamon on the top shelf. He was almost there! If he could just get one inch higher. . .  
He jumped and swiped at the glass container just as the Institute doorbell rang. The startlingly loud tone caused him to send the cinnamon flying across the kitchen. It seemed to hang in midair for a second before it smashed against the floor a meager five feet from where Kit had landed, sending shards of glass spraying all over in a glittering dust.  
Kit groaned and rested his head against the counter. Two seconds later, Diana poked her head into the kitchen.  
"Is everything alright?" she asked. "I heard a crash."  
"I'm fine," Kit sighed, "but the cinnamon shaker isn't."  
Kit couldn't tell if Diana's expression was one of disappointment or if she was actually just trying not to laugh. He guessed it was probably the former. Diana shook her head as she retreated (probably to answer the door).  
Kit looked at his sad, soggy, cinnamon-less toast and momentarily considered just using some cinnamon from the floor. Then he realized he didn't know when the last time the Institute kitchen floor has been washed and decided otherwise.  
He stuck a piece of the toast in his mouth and carried his breakfast into the hall where he nearly crashed into Ty and Livvy.  
"Are you okay?" asked Livvy. "It sounded like something shattered."  
"Was it the cinnamon?" Ty asked, looking at Kit's floppy toast.  
Kit nodded and swallowed the bite of bread in his mouth. "I wouldn't go into the kitchen barefoot if I were you. Could we put up some caution tape?"  
Ty looked like he was about to answer when there was a call from the front door.  
"Kit, Ty, Livvy," Diana said. "Come here."  
The three walked over to her and saw a boy about their age with bright green eyes and a mess of curly red hair standing with her.  
"This is Elliot. He's going to be staying here for a few days while I sort some things out with the Clave. It's your job to make sure he feels comfortable."  
Diana patted Elliot's shoulder and walked back towards her office.  
"So Elliot," Livvy said, "what brought you here?"  
The boy just stared at her; his green eyes seemed glazed over. Livvy said his name again and he blinked then answered, "I don't remember."  
"You don't remember?" Kit echoed incredulously. Elliot shook his head.  
"Well," Livvy said, "I'm Livvy, and this is my brother, Ty," she motioned to Ty, then to Kit, "and our friend, Kit."  
Elliot offered them a confused-looking smile.  
"We should go sit somewhere," Kit suggested. "So it's less awkward."  
The other three agreed. They walked to the library and Kit sat down in one of the armchairs. He glanced up at Elliot to see him staring around the library in awe. Ty and Livvy were sitting together in the same over-large chair.  
"So," Kit said, and Elliot blinked and looked at him. "Where are you from?"  
Elliot wrinkled his brow in thought.  
"I don't remember that either," he answered, finally.  
"Do you remember anything?"  
"I remember my name is Elliot Rosewater, I'm fifteen years old, and I needed to be at the Los Angeles Institute for—some reason," Elliot said defensively, as if he thought they might think he was stupid.  
"Nothing else?" Livvy asked.  
"I like books," Elliot answered meekly.  
Ty looked up a little to Elliot's left. "What kinds of books?"  
"I like histories," Elliot responded, "and species studies."  
Ty nodded. "I can show you where those are."  
Elliot offered him a smile, but Kit didn't know if Ty had seen it; he was already standing and walking towards the histories section of the library. Elliot followed him and asked what books Ty liked, which caused Ty to start monologuing about Sherlock Holmes. Kit thought that was kind of cute.  
"He seems nice," Livvy voiced, and Kit looked at her. She was watching Elliot talk with her brother.  
Kit nodded in agreement. "Yeah. It's weird he can't remember anything though."  
Livvy made a small noise of agreement. She watched Ty point out specific books to Elliot.  
The two came back over shortly, Elliot carrying a stack of three or four books.  
"Hey, Elliot," Livvy said when he approached.  
"Yeah?" Elliot asked, looking at her.  
"Do you want us to help you get your memories back?"  
Kit shot her a cautious glance, but she didn't seem to notice.  
"Oh, would you?" Elliot responded. He sounded genuinely grateful.  
"If you're staying here, it'd be best to get to know you," Ty agreed.  
"That includes yourself," Livvy added with a smile. "Right, Kit?"  
Kit thought about it, then said, "Yeah, of course."  
Elliot grinned, his green eyes sparkling.

"When did you lose your memories?" Kit asked. Ty looked a little amused.  
"I don't remember," Elliot told him. "Before this morning, I guess. I can't think of what I did before then."  
Kit sighed. He should have assumed that.  
"We're not getting very far here," Kit commented. "We could go for a walk around to see if you remember anything."  
"That might help," Elliot said.  
Kit stood and walked towards the exit and the other three followed.  
He had been planning to eat outside that morning, but between his breakfast flop (literally) and the arrival of Elliot, Kit hadn't gotten around to it. He noticed now that the sky was pretty cloudy. He turned to say something about it to Ty but then realized anything even resembling 'nice weather we're having' would sound incredibly dumb.  
Then Elliot said, "Hey, the weather's pretty nice! I didn't notice earlier."  
Kit decided he didn't like Elliot.  
"It looks like it might rain," Livvy commented.  
"I mean, I'm from Oregon, so I'm used to it."  
Everyone stopped and stared at Elliot, causing him to walk smack into Kit.  
"What are you—oh," Elliot said, realization hitting him. "I remembered that!"  
Kit looked at Ty and saw his eyes alight—just how they always were when he was working on a mystery.  
"That's great!" Livvy exclaimed, grinning.  
Elliot looked really pleased. "Let's keep going to see if I remember anything else!"  
Kit felt a drop of water hit his nose, followed shortly by several more.  
"It's raining," Ty commented. "We should go back."  
They all agreed and started running when Livvy shouted "Race you!" Elliot was the fastest out of everyone.

By the time the four of them got back to the Institute, the sky had opened up and each of them was soaked through. Kit found himself staring at the way Ty's shirt clung to his chest. He hoped he looked that good in wet clothes, but he doubted it.  
"We should change out of these clothes," Livvy suggested.  
Ty and Kit nodded, but Elliot looked concerned.  
"I don't have any other clothes," he said.  
Kit looked him over. "You're about my size. You could borrow some of mine for now, and I'm sure the Institute will get you your own clothes or something soon."  
Elliot smiled at Kit appreciatively, and Kit was certain he didn't like him.

They reconvened by the mains staircase of the Institute once everyone was dressed. Ty was wearing a fuzzy sweater that he kept running his fingers over.  
"What now?" Kit asked.  
"Well," Elliot began, "I don't want to be a bother, but where am I sleeping tonight?"  
"Oh!" Livvy said. "I forgot about that. I'll go ask Diana if you can use one of the empty bedrooms."  
"Thank you!" Elliot told her as she walked away, Ty following her with his hand in hers.  
Kit sat on the stairs. Elliot looked at him and leaned against the railing.  
"Do you remember anything else yet?" Kit asked after a while.  
"What?" Elliot looked confused for a moment, then his eyes seemed to gloss over again. "Oh, no, not yet."  
"And you still don't know why you're here of all places?"  
Elliot looked a little reproachful.  
"I told you, I don't know."  
Kit nodded and looked out of the rain-covered window. Something seemed off about Elliot, and it was more than just amnesia.  
"Diana says you can use the empty room next to Kit's," Livvy told Elliot as she and Ty walked back over.  
"She'll also get some clothes for you," Ty commented.  
Elliot smiled thankfully at them.  
"I guess I'll show you where that is," Kit said, getting up and walking up the stairs.

"I feel like there's something he's not telling us," Kit voiced as he lied sprawled-out on a couch. Elliot was getting fitted for gear—clothes that could be offered to him immediately.  
"There's a lot he's not telling us," Ty said, "because he can't remember."  
"And he did only meet us today," Livvy added. "I wouldn't expect anyone to open up that quickly."  
"But still—"  
"You were the same way, Kit," Livvy told him.  
Kit turned his gaze towards a window. He considered arguing his point more, but he could tell he wasn't going to get anywhere. Maybe he was overreacting.  
"I heard Diana talking about something," Livvy said to the room at large. "Apparently a faerie was killed in Nevada. Her body was really badly beat up—as if the person who killed her didn't know what they were doing."  
"Is Diana trying to investigate?" Kit asked, pleased that he was no longer being judged.  
Livvy shook her head.  
"She can't without the Clave's permission," Ty deduced. Livvy nodded.  
"Has that ever stopped any of us, though?" Kit asked, a smile spreading across his lips. He was pleased to see the expression reflected on Ty and Livvy, too.

The rest of the day saw Ty, Livvy, and Kit (but mostly Ty and Livvy) giving Elliot a run-through of how days at the Institute worked. Livvy commented that Elliot would probably not be held to the same standard as everyone else because of his situation, and Elliot seemed relieved. Kit remembered what he had thought of the Institute schedule at first.  
That evening, the four of them sat in the hallway outside Kit's room. Elliot hadn't had any revelations since their walk that morning, and they all were brainstorming ways to change that.  
"I know we can't just go to Oregon," Livvy said, "but we could look up pictures to see if that helps."  
"What if we used a map?" Kit wondered.  
"Could you find your town on a map?" Ty asked Elliot.  
"I don't know," Elliot answered. "I can't remember anything more than Oregon right now."  
There was silence for a moment and Ty pulled out his phone. He handed it to Elliot.  
"Here," he said. "Look through this."  
Kit glanced over Elliot's shoulder. Ty had pulled up "Oregon" on Google Images. There were a lot of pictures of bodies of water surrounded by tall trees and images of sheer cliffs. There were also several images that had to do with marijuana, but Kit didn't know if anyone recognized that.  
"I think I remember seeing this," Elliot said, pointing to a photograph of a campsite.  
Ty followed the link, which turned out to be an advertisement for McKenzie River campgrounds.  
"I think. . ." Elliot paused. "I think my dad is a park ranger."  
"I can try to see if any rangers have your last name," Ty offered.  
Livvy yawned. "We should do that tomorrow. It's late."  
Kit agreed. He was trying to hold back a yawn himself. He stood.  
"Well, I'll see you tomorrow," he said, reaching for his door handle.  
"Goodnight, Kit."  
"Goodnight, Ty."  
"Night!"

Kit woke to the sound of footsteps outside of his door. They didn't sound like anyone he knew. Kit picked up a knife from his bedside table, then, on second thought, swapped it for a witchlight. The stone emitted a steady glow in his hand, and Kit swung his feet out of bed.  
He exited his room after smoothing his hair down. It didn't work completely; bedhead is a force to be reckoned with.  
By the time Kit had made it into the hallway,there was nobody there. He walked in the direction he thought the footsteps had went, then rounded a corner. The staircase was to his immediate right, and he thought he glimpsed someone slip away at the bottom. Kit followed the figure.  
When he reached the bottom of the steps, Kit noticed that the library lights were on. He moved towards the door and pushed it open gently.  
Elliot was standing by a shelf, his back to the door. He had a book in his hands and was rifling through the pages.  
"Weaknesses, weaknesses," Kit could hear him mutter.  
Elliot seemed to find a page that satisfied him, and silence fell.  
Kit, who was growing uncomfortable, made his presence known with a light cough. Elliot whirled around and stared at Kit. His eyes appeared cold, but Kit figured he could have imagined it as they quickly returned to soft and glazed-over.  
"You okay?" Kit asked him. Elliot seemed to relax.  
"Yeah," he said. "How long have you been standing there?"  
"Not long," Kit lied.  
Elliot breathed a sigh and walked towards Kit.  
"I had a dream, and it made me remember that my dad left when I was seven," Elliot explained. "He ran off with a faerie woman and left me alone with Mom." He nodded to the book he was holding. It was a volume on Shadowhunter-Fey relations.  
Kit felt a rush of sympathy. Growing up with a single parent, huh?  
"You should go back to bed," Kit told him. "Maybe it was resolved and you'll remember more."  
Elliot shook his head. "I won't be able to get back to sleep."  
Kit shrugged and turned to go. Maybe he had been wrong about Elliot. Maybe there wasn't anything bad about him after all.  
"Also," Elliot added, "your hair is a mess."  
Elliot as a horrible person, Kit was sure of it.

Julian made pancakes for everyone the next morning (Kit's were the smallest. He figured it was probably for filling the kitchen with cinnamon and glass shards), and Emma and the other Blackthorns introduced themselves to Elliot. After that, Elliot suggested they go on another walk.

The sun was bright that day, and Kit had to shield his eyes with his hand.  
"Did you hear anything else about the faerie that got killed?" he asked Livvy while squinting heavily.  
Livvy giggled a little. She had sunglasses and could see an unobstructed view of Kit's contorted face.  
"No," she sighed. "Because of the Cold Peace, the Clave isn't looking into it."  
"The Cold Peace doesn't seem to be good for anyone," Ty said.  
"I don't know," Elliot commented, shrugging. "It sorta makes things less complicated."  
" _Less_ complicated?" Livvy asked, incredulous.  
"Yeah, I mean, back home in Nevada I—"  
"Nevada?" Kit interrupted.  
"You said you lived in Oregon," Ty said, looking at Elliot.  
"I—I mean. . . maybe I remembered wrong," Elliot tried to defend, but the haziness was gone from his eyes. Kit recognized the cold look he had seen in the library the night before.  
"You never forgot anything, did you?" Levy said, looking hurt.  
"I—okay, fine," Elliot said, his whole demeanor changing. "I lied to you this whole time."  
Ty stared at Elliot.  
"Is anything you said true?" Kit asked.  
"Almost nothing," Elliot sneered. "My name's not even Elliot Rosewater." He looked at Ty. "I kind of wanted you to look for my dad in the Oregon Park Ranger system. It might have been hilarious to watch you." He glanced at Kit. "I didn't lie about my dad ditching me for a faerie, though."  
"Elliot—" Livvy started.  
"That's not my name!" the boy interrupted.  
"What's your name then?"  
"Do you think I'm that stupid?" he asked. "I'm not telling you my name. The Clave might decide to investigate that case after all, and I don't want you helping them out."  
"Wait," Livvy said, "You killed that faerie?"  
"She took my dad!" Not-Elliot nearly screamed. Kit made a grab for him, but he was already backing away.  
"Thanks for the hospitality."  
He bolted.

"We should have gone after him!" Levy groaned.  
Frankly, Kit agreed, but he said, "We couldn't have done anything. He was halfway down the street before we knew hat was happening."  
Livvy sighed.  
"We can give his description to the Clave," Ty said, "if they ever pick up that case. And he did let slip that he lived in Nevada."  
Kit nodded.  
"I was right, though," he said. He couldn't help himself any longer. He'd been silent for this long. "I said there was something shady about him."  
Livvy rolled her eyes, but Ty looked pleased.  
"Good deduction skills."  
Kit grinned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First off, I'm so so so sorry for how late this is. School is harder than ever this year and I'm only half a quarter in. Hhhhhhhh.
> 
> Second off, I didn't realize there was a prominent fictional character named Eliot (not Elliot) Rosewater until after I wrote the chapter oops


	4. The Adventure of the Golden Rose

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our trio are witness to a crime at a Halloween party, but the perpetrator is masked! Can Kit, Ty, and Livvy figure out who stole the golden rose?

“Kit! Are you ready?”

Someone with Livvy’s voice (probably Livvy) called to Kit from outside his closed bedroom door.

“Nearly!” Kit called back. He was having trouble zipping up the back of his Spider-Man costume.

Livvy opened the door.   
“Hey!” Kit scrambled to try and zip his costume, but just managed to pull his shoulder instead. “Haven’t you heard of knocking before entering? Or just not entering?”

Livvy laughed. She had pale makeup on, and her hair was chalked the same colour white as the contacts she had over her Blackthorn blue-green eyes. She walked over to Kit, and the train on her flowy white dress fluttered as she moved. “You were taking a long time so I thought you might need help.”   
“I am perfectly capable of putting on a costume by myself th—hey!” Kit jumped away, but Livvy had already zipped the back of his spidey suit.   
“Let’s go, we’re gonna be late!” Livvy said, and walked back into the hallway.   
Kit grabbed his mask and followed her. “You know ghosts aren’t scary.”

Livvy shrugged. “I mean, people are afraid of death.”   
“Yeah, but you don’t look  _ dead _ .”   
“I’m gonna tell Cristina you insulted the makeup she did for me.”   
“I take it back!”

 

Ty was waiting for the two of them at the bottom of the stairs. When Kit approached, he looked Ty over. He was wearing a Sherlock Holmes costume and chewing gently at the fake pipe in his mouth. His grey eyes were striking against the green plaid of his cape and hat, out from under which tufts of straight black hair poked.   
“Are we all ready?” Ty asked. Kit nodded and Livvy said “yep!” and the three headed out the door.

 

“So nobody actually told me where we’re going,” Kit said in the back of the taxi they were taking.   
“A Halloween party!” Livvy said.   
“I gathered that much,” Kit told her, “but where?”   
“The Rosegold Hotel,” Ty said. “It throws a Halloween party every year and tons of Shadowhunters and Downworlders go. Only fifteen-year-olds and up can go though, so we’ve never been before.”   
Kit nodded. “Are Julian and Emma and Cristina coming?”   
“Jules is taking Dru and Tavvy trick-or-treating,” Livvy explained, “but Emma and Cristina might come!”

The taxi pulled up in front of a grand hotel and Livvy paid the driver.

The three of them stepped out of the car and it drove off. Kit gazed at the columns framing the decadent front doors. They were chiseled from a cream-white coloured marble and stood intimidatingly tall. The doors were outlined in gold leaf that created petal shapes spiraling towards the handles. They weren’t sliding doors like most hotels had, but sturdy, aged oak doors. Kit let his eyes slide out of focus and the image of the hotel disappeared, replaced with that of a building that was under construction. It was covered in caution tape. Kit blinked and the hotel came back into view.   
“Only people with the Sight allowed, huh?” he asked, and Livvy nodded. She pushed the door open and the three teenagers were greeted with the noise of a crowd.

Kit stepped through the doors, and, as if the outside wasn’t resplendent enough, was in total awe of the absolute grandeur composing the inside of the hotel. The lobby area was decked out with gold-and-cream coloured furnishings, and the walls were the same cream. The patterns formed by the tile floor were in the shapes of roses—black and white lines on a gold base. The ceiling was higher than Kit would have expected; it reached up about five floors and had dozens of petal-shaped skylights.

The guests themselves were no less resplendent. Each of them was in costume, and Kit immediately felt self-conscious about how cheap his Spider-Man suit was. He put the mask over his face.   
A man in a fancy three piece suit approached them. His irises were shaped like stars, and Kit figured he was a warlock, though he might have been wearing sclera contacts.   
“Young masters of the Los Angeles Institute! I’m so glad you could come,” the man said. Kit looked at Livvy, who was just as awestruck as he was. She blinked and looked at the warlock (who was most definitely a warlock, as he had conjured three wristbands out of nowhere).   
“Thanks,” Livvy said to him. Kit looked at Ty, who’d put his headphones on and was studying the walls.   
“Please hold your wrists out,” the warlock said, motioning to the wristbands he was holding. “These are so people know you aren’t crashing the party.”   
Kit and Livvy held their wrists out, and Ty did too. The warlock man wrapped them around each person’s left wrist tight enough that they wouldn’t slip off. He nodded and gave a “thank you” before walking away to greet the next guests. Livvy took Ty’s hand.   
“Let’s look around!”

 

There was a group of people clustered around the center of the room. When Ty, Livvy, and Kit approached, they stood on their tiptoes to see what was going on. A woman’s voice was coming from the center of the crowd.   
“Yes, our rose is sculpted of pure silver and plated in twenty-four-karat gold. The materials themselves are worth about eight hundred dollars, but put together in this shape, the rose is worth over one-thousand! It’s this hotel’s pride and a symbol of our prosperity.”   
Someone in front of Kit moved, and he could see what the woman was talking about. There was in fact a gold rose under a glass case sitting on an oak table in the center of crowd. It was the size of a large real rose, with a long stem. Each petal, leaf, and thorn was sculpted in great detail, and Kit would have wondered if someone hadn’t just spray painted a rose gold if it hadn’t been standing on its own. He nudged Ty, who took his headphones off.   
“Why do they have that out in the open?”   
“Probably to show off,” Ty answered.

“No, we will not allow people to touch it,” the woman said, and Kit could see now that she was a vampire with blonde hair and brown eyes. She was wearing a black dress that contrasted nicely with her pale features—and also nicely showed off her bust—and Kit thought he saw the scars of Marks on her arms. She had been a Shadowhunter?   
“They all look so greedy,” Livvy said, nodding her head towards a group of faeries who had gathered to the opposite side of the golden rose from the vampire woman.   
“Are you sure we can’t hold it, Claudia?”   
“Positive,” the woman responded, tossing her hair over her shoulder. “And if anyone tries to, they will be in deep trouble.” She flashed a smile, not bothering to hide her fangs.

“Let’s go check out the food,” Kit suggested, and Livvy and Ty agreed. They walked towards the dining hall.

 

“Check out the size of these waffles!” Kit said excitedly, holding a Belgian waffle out to Livvy and Ty in one hand and his mask in the other. He took a bite of the food.

Ty looked amused. “It’s five PM.”   
“Breakfast for dinner is a thing,” Kit said through a mouthful of waffle.   
“The food here looks really expensive,” Livvy said, gazing around.   
Kit swallowed the food in his mouth. “Everything here looks really expensive.”   
Kit walked to check out the sushi, and he bumped into a person who made a rude gesture at him.   
“Watch where you’re going, kid.”

“Watch who you’re flipping off,” Kit responded in the same tone. The person was wearing a demon mask that obscured their face, and the rest of their body was androgynous in a ruffled red suit. Even their voice didn’t give their gender away. They shook their head and walked on, and Kit scowled after them. Livvy touched his arm.   
“Is everything okay?”   
“Yeah. I’m not very hungry any more, though.”   
Ty, who had come over with Livvy, shrugged and picked up a muffin. The three of them went back out into the lobby.   
Kit heard a buzz, and turned to see Ty looking at his phone.   
“Emma and Cristina are on their way,” Ty said.   
“Okay, cool,” Livvy said.   
Kit saw the androgynous demon person walk by again, and his face tightened. The person, who was soon engaged in a brief conversation, shook up their sleeves, and Kit saw that they weren’t wearing a wristband. He pointed that out to Livvy and Ty, and the two of them squinted at the person, who noticed them staring and pushed his sleeves down before walking away.   
“Do you think we should tell the warlock guy?” Kit asked. “The one who was letting us in?”   
Livvy nodded and Ty said, “Yeah.”   
They walked back towards the entrance of the hotel, but had to walk around a gaggle of teenage Shadowhunter girls who were all fawning over some guy and his costume.   
Before Kit and the others could reach the grand doors, they heard a shriek and turned to see the demon-masked person running out of the room and to the stairs. They were holding the golden rose!

 

“Where’s Claudia?!” Someone shouted from the crowd around the broken glass where the rose had been kept.   
“I’m here.”   
Claudia pushed her way through the crowd. Her blonde hair looked a little bit of a mess, and she looked anxious. Her bare arms shook as she dusted the shattered glass off the table.   
“I’ll lose my job for this,” she muttered to herself. The crowd started to dissipate, and soon only Kit, Ty, and Livvy were left standing there.   
“Excuse me, ma’am,” Livvy said. “Is there any way we can help?”   
Claudia looked at Livvy and noticed her Marks. She sighed. “Not unless you can get the rose back or figure out who took it. Don’t let anyone from the Clave know. They’d shut us down for not keeping with the Cold Peace…”   
Livvy nodded. “We understand. We—” Her phone buzzed. “Emma and Cristina can’t get in. They say the building’s locked up.”   
Claudia nodded. “Once I saw the rose being stolen, I made sure the security systems closed up. Does anyone know who stole it?”   
Kit shook his head.   
“No,” Ty said, “but we can find out.”   
“Are you sure? You’re just some kids—”   
“We’re from the L.A. Institute,” Kit said. “We’ve solved stuff like this before.”   
Claudia looked shocked. “You’re the kids from the Institute?! I’ve heard about what you’ve been doing. So I can trust you to figure this out?”   
“Sure thing.”   
“Kit—” Livvy started, but she was interrupted by the appearance of the star-eyed warlock.   
“Claudia, are you alright?”   
“Oh, Jasper,” Claudia breathed with a sigh of relief. “Yes, I’m fine.”   
“Hey, we were just coming to talk to you before,” Kit said to the warlock.   
“Oh?” he said, his eyes on Kit.   
“Yeah, we had something to say about the person who stole the rose,” Livvy explained. “Before they stole it.”   
“He didn’t have a wristband,” Ty told him.   
Jasper’s eyes widened. “I gave a wristband to each guest that entered. I’m sure I didn’t miss any…”   
“Is it possible that you could have?” Livvy asked.   
“No chance,” Claudia said. “Jasper’s the best.”   
“Claudia…” Jasper seemed uncomfortable.   
“What? You are.”   
“Claudia, you’re not wearing a wristband,” Livvy said. “Does any of the staff?”   
“No, but why… you can’t mean!”   
“What if someone on the staff did it?”   
“The person was in a costume, though,” Jasper commented. “None of the staff are wearing any.”   
“And only Jasper and I were working at the moment,” Claudia said. “Yvette was working tonight, too, but she stepped out to get some air.”   
“Could it have been her?” Kit asked.   
“No, of course not,” Jasper said, waving his hand.   
“How can you be sure?” Livvy questioned.   
“She’s, well,” Jasper hesitated, “much, um… wider… than the person who took the rose.”   
“Jasper! That’s a little rude!”   
Jasper shrugged at Claudia’s outburst. “Maybe someone came in through a window?”   
“Yeah, maybe…” Kit said.   
“No,” Ty said firmly.   
“Excuse me?” said Jasper.   
“No windows were broken and the only windows that have a hinge are the skylights,” Ty explained, “And dropping from that height would have caused too much commotion to come in unseen.”   
Jasper just stared at him.   
“Um,” Livvy said. “The person ran down a hall. Can we try tracking where they went to?”   
Jasper sighed. “Does it matter if you get fired, Claudia? This job isn’t that great anyway.”   
Claudia ignored him. “Follow me.”   
She led Kit, Livvy, and Ty (and a reluctant Jasper) down the hall. There was an employee desk halfway down it.   
“They must have gone to one of the rooms,” Jasper said, starting to walk past the desk.   
“Wait,” Ty said. He started to move around the desk.   
“They might still be back in a room!” Jasper called, angry at being ignored.   
Ty opened a drawer. “Kit, Livvy, come here.”   
Kit moved over to Ty and looked in the drawer. “A demon mask?”   
“And a red suit,” Livvy said.   
Ty moved the mask and suit aside, and underneath was the golden rose.   
“Jasper?” The gasp came from Claudia.   
Kit looked up at Jasper and saw his face red with anger.   
“Claudia, if you hadn’t recruited these  _ kids _ , I would have been free to go. I’d have gotten a decent amount of money for the thing and might even have shared some with you.”   
“Jasper, why would you do that?”   
“Because this job sucks!”   
Claudia looked offended.   
“They always treat you better than me,” Jasper growled. “If they’d lost the rose, they would have seen they should have been treating me better. But I’d be gone.”   
“Jasper, you didn’t tell anyone,” Claudia said, her voice soft.   
“You know what! Just forget about it!” Jasper said. “Forget this ever happened! And you three,” he said, turning to Kit, Livvy, and Ty, “Get out of here and don’t come back!”   
“But—” Kit protested.   
“Go!”

The three of them backed away. Claudia would probably maybe be able to handle things.   


* * *

  
“How was the party?” Julian asked when they got back to the Institute.   
Livvy sighed. “You know what, I think we’ll just go trick-or-treating next year.”   
Kit grinned at Ty and Livvy, and they gave him twin-like identical smiles in return. Yeah, Kit thought, that might be better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wowwwww that was rough?  
> I tried to add more detail in but it cost me so I guess I'll have to do much better next month.  
> Please comment and give kudos, and follow me on tumblr at adventuresoftiberiusblackthorn.tumblr.com!

**Author's Note:**

> I am by no means a mystery writer on a normal basis. So much research went into this story! I sit here surrounded by my copies of Lady Midnight, Lord of Shadows, The Shadowhunter's Codex, and The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. I hope you guys enjoyed it! Comments are always appreciated!


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